Thursday, June 26, 2014

The
nasty rascal, the chinch bug in St. Augustine grass has been killing large
areas of turf in the Lowcountry. Remember the products that control chinch
bugs generally have a short residual. If you are going out of town for any
length of time, be sure you treat the lawn before you leave. If you prefer
to treat less often, Aloft is the way to go. Aloft is more expensive;
however, depending on the rates you apply the product, the cost evens out
because you have to apply it less often and you only have to keep the pets
inside once instead of multiple times.

Fleas have been a close second to chinch
bugs this Spring. Any pet owner, especially one that has his or her pet
sleep in the same room as themselves, can not stand to be kept up half the
night by the sound of their pet scratching fleas. Fleas are hard to
control. Plan to treat the animal, the house, and the yard. The use of
growth regulators will make a near impossible task, much easier. Expect
about two weeks to get this pest managed.

Japanese
beetles have been chowing down. Bifen or Cyonara will take care of them.

Hurry
up and do any pruning you want to do to azaleas and camellias.

While
driving through neighborhoods localized dry spots are very evident.These are areas in the yard that turn
that bluish gray color from lack of water.New neighborhoods with young grass and poor soils seem to be most
susceptible to these dry areas.Exposed areas with lots of wind and areas at the beaches also are
good candidates for these localized dry spots.Adding organic matter to the soil
(Cotton Burr Composts or SeaHume), wetting agents, or adjusting sprinkler
heads will help with these dry areas.Remember to water in the early a.m. before the wind picks up, so
the grass will dry by nightfall.

Moles
seem to be particularly active this spring.They just had their young in April and
now they are tunneling up a storm.The young moles are hungry!Manage the food source in your yard (grubs, mole crickets) with
Lebanon Insect Control and go after the mole with Mole Patrol.

Be
sure to change that dull mower blade from last year.This will give your grass a cleaner cut
and will allow less entry points for disease. Inspect your blade for nicks
and damage if you are going to continue to use the same blade. Since a
mower blade spins at very high speeds, any nicks or bends can lead to the
blade being out of balance. When a blade is out of balance, the mower will
vibrate (like your tire out of balance on your car) and you could damage
the spindle and other parts of your mower that cost far more than a new
blade.

Look
up at your trees. If you have any tree work that needs to be done, I would
get it done as soon as possible.Look for trees that have cavities at the base of the tree and look
at the tops for broken limbs and weak crotch angles.Have a tree care professional inspect
your trees for safety. Most tree companies will inspect for free. Try to
get this done before the Lowcountry is in that cone for a direct hit for a
hurricane! The tree companies are usually very busy by then.

As
with all products, you should read and follow product labels.More is not better when dealing with
control products.Measure your yard
so you know your square footage and watch overlapping when applying your
products.You also need to watch
the weather forecast to insure the products have a proper amount of time
on your lawn prior to any rain.If
the product needs to be watered into the ground, a slow watering by a
sprinkler is better than a gully washer from the sky.A very hard rain can wash products into
the storm water drains which are bad for the environment and you have
wasted a lot of money.Also
sweep or blow fertilizers or control products off of hard surfaces when youare
finished applying them. In the case of fertilizer this may prevent staining,
and most importantly it will
keep products from washing through storm drains to themarshes.

With
the dry weather we had earlier this year, spider mites have come out in
full force. Be sure to use a product labeled for mites when trying to
control these plant juice suckers. Mites are not insects, so all
insecticides do not control them. Malathion and oil should work until the
temperatures get too hot.

Another
plant juice sucker that is out in full force is the lace bug on Azaleas.
Ifthe leaves look mottled, flip
the leaf over and look very closely for the pest. The lace bug is small
and well camouflaged so you might need a magnify glass. Dominion Tree and
Shrub or Merit will give you long term control of this pest.

Monday, June 23, 2014

Summer is here! Pop up thunderstorms in the afternoon, well
over 90 degree days, and vacation time (“Schools out for Summer” – Alice Cooper).
If your kids are grown, maybe you are thinking, “Summertime and the Living is Easy”
because if they are still around the house you are busy keeping them busy.

The pop up thunderstorms are very local in the Lowcountry.
Just because you went through a lot of rain on the way home from work, do not
be surprised if you got very little at home (or flip this scenario). This past
week I was in a monsoon in West Ashley and hardly a drop of rain came down at
my house.

With the very high temperatures, be sure your lawn, trees,
and shrubs are getting enough water. If you have an irrigation system, invest
in a rain sensor, so you are not wasting water and your money on water during a
wet spell.

With the sporadic rain, a rain gauge is a good tool to have.
We have a basic one that sells for less than five dollars. I have seen very
fancy ones that are over one hundred dollars. With the Duck Dynasty craze going
strong, you could probably get a camouflage coffee mug with an equal top and
bottom circumference and place it in the middle of the yard away from
overhanging tree limbs to collect water. If you go with the camo mug, be sure
you do not hit it with the lawn mower.

Using wetting agents (we hear of people saving 30% to 85% on
their water bill by using wetting agents), topdressing with Cotton Burr Compost
and using organic fertilizers will help you get more bang for your water bill
buck.

If you have a well for watering, be sure to have it tested
for salt. We (Possum’s Landscape and Pest Control) see many soil tests that
come back high in sodium from people watering with a well that is salty.
Sometimes these wells are inland, so it is not just a coastal situation. If you
have a salty well, we have many tools to help you manage this situation.

Thursday, June 12, 2014

Leyland Cypress issues, roaches and rodents that like air
conditioning, flies by the grill, how an application of SeaHume and 15-00-15
made the grass so green, mosquitoes and these mysterious brown areas in my yard
seem to dominate my conversations this week.

The “mysterious brown areas” have in all cases turned out to
be lack of water. Money has been spent on fungicides and insecticides when all
the area needed is a little water. If you have an irrigation system, check to
make sure your heads are turning properly and all your zones (valves) are
working, or hire a professional to go through your system.

“My irrigation system runs for 20 minutes per zone three
times per week, is that enough water?”This is a question I get asked frequently, and the answer is not a yes
or a no response.Different irrigation
systems have different gallon per minute nozzles so the rate varies according
to the type of nozzle installed.Water
pressure also varies depending on where you live and whether you have a
well.Some irrigation heads pop up and
mist and others pop up and spray in a rotary fashion.The difference is enormous to a yard.The pop ups that are spraying a constant mist
can flood an area very quickly. The rotary head can run for an hour without too
much water being applied.

Ideally your soil should be moist down to six inches.Moist…not saturated.A soil probe is an excellent way to determine
the moisture levels in the soil.Soil
probes are available at garden centers.Soil probes will allow you to check the moisture as well as the profile
of your soil.You can also determine how
much thatch you have using these probes.Soil probes also make taking a soil test much easier.

Measuring the amount of water your sprinkler or irrigation
system is putting onto your landscape is very easy.A few coffee cups that have an equal diameter
on top as the bottom is all you need.If
you are not a coffee cup person, you can also use tuna fish cans, soup cans or
other containers that have an equal diameter on top and bottom.If you don’t want to look like a hillbilly,
you can invest in several rain gauges.

Simply place these throughout your lawn and run the
sprinkler for 15 minutes, then measure the amount of water in the
container.If you have an irrigation
system, you will have to measure each zone separately to get accurate
measures.If you collected a quarter
inch of water in 15 minutes and you wanted to put out a half inch of water,
simply increase your irrigation time to 30 minutes.

By applying organic products and/or wetting agents you can
greatly reduce the amount of water you need to apply.Cotton Burr compost is a great organic
product that will reduce your watering bill, and increase the soil’s nutrient
holding capacity making your fertilizers more effective.Cotton Burr compost will also help reduce
runoff of fertilizers and other control products into the environment because
the products penetrate the soil.

Wetting agents allow water to penetrate deeper into the soil
resulting in deeper rooting grasses, plants, and trees.Wetting agents will also help reduce runoff
of fertilizers and other control products into the environment because the
products penetrate the soil.Although
water is very inexpensive here compared to other parts of the country and
world, you still don’t want to waste it.Wetting agents have been shown to reduce water usage by 30-60%.Fungicide use can be reduced with less watering.

The most important aspect of watering is keeping the soil
moist to a depth of six inches.Add the
appropriate amount of water for your yard with your soil type, wind exposure,
slope or yard, and exposure to sun.

Sunday, June 8, 2014

If you haven’t already, it is time to get a ‘ jump’ on fleas.
I can tell from the questions I get and the sales at Possum’s, fleas are
getting active. The best control comes from a three prong approach of treating
the animal, your house, and your yard, while using a growth regulator to
prevent the fleas from reproducing.

Prefurred One or Prefurred Plus are post patented Fipronil
products that you apply directly to your dog or cat every 30 days. Being a
“generic”, the price has dropped significantly (customers tell us 30 to 50
percent off). Petcor, Biospot or a flea collar will also protect your animal.
Flee, a new Fipronil based spray product, is getting good reviews.

Be proactive and treat the house with a product that
contains a growth regulator. Precor 2000, Ultracide, I G regulator, Pivot, EcoVia
(National Organics Program compliant but no growth regulator) and Alpine Flea
Insecticide are a few good products for use in the house. If you apply these
products before you have an issue, your success will be much greater and will
save you from all the vacuuming, washing of beds and the sleepless nights with
a scratching pet.

Pivot 10 is a growth regulator that can be used inside and
outside. Research show indoors it last about 7 months and outdoors between 30
and 60 days depending on rainfall and other environmental factors. Pivot
controls many pests from drain flies to house flies to roaches to mosquitoes to
fleas and many other common pests in the Lowcountry. Drain flies, flies,
roaches, mosquitoes, and fleas are always bad this time of year, so now is a
great time to apply Pivot 10.

By treating the family pet, the home and the yard
proactively, you should have good success against the flea. If this sounds like
too much work or a project you would rather have a professional tackle, there
are many good Pest Management Professionals.

Watch out for flies and stinging pest like wasps. This is
their time of year as well!

Sunday, June 1, 2014

Time is flying by once again! School is getting out and it
is already June. Of course the heat brings many situations in the landscape.

Right now there is a great opportunity for those that love
fragrance. I know there are some manly men out there that would not admit this
because it would compromise their manhood, but two of the Lowcountry gems are
blooming now, and they smell great! The Magnolias and Gardenias will stop you
in their tracks with their fragrance.

Many people like the smell of Ligustrum. I’m not one of
those people; however, it does signal the Spring to me and bees love it. I do
believe there are closet lovers of Gardenias and Magnolias. These bearded manly
men dress up in camouflage, paint their face, and in the cover of darkness, go
and smell these wonderful plants.

Japanese Beetles have emerged (pun intended) on the scene,
tearing up Crepe Myrtles, Roses, and many other plants. These heavy eaters are
easy to kill with a little persistence. Bifen, Cyonara, and many others will take
care of the Japanese Beetle. Traps also work if placed away from where the
preferred meal of the Japanese Beetle and are more of an organic approach. EcoVia
EC is a Botanical Insecticide that is NOP (National Organic Program) compliant
and works.

The baby mole crickets are hatching and the adults are dying
off. Now is a good time to ‘flush’ an area that you think you might have mole
crickets. Get two ounces of lemony dish soap in five gallons of water and
slowly pour it over a 2 x 2 area where you have tunneling damage by mole
crickets and see what comes out of the ground in the next 3 to 5 minutes. Depending
on your tolerance level, you can decide whether or not to treat. A golf green
would have zero tolerance because the tunnels would affect the ball roll. EcoVia
EC and Intice Perimeter are two NOP compliant products that should work good for
you. Aloft or Lebanon Sevin are conventional control products that will ‘kill
the baby’ mole crickets.

While I was talking to a commercial customer on the phone
last week about a yard he was getting ready for a wedding, he got all excited
because a mole (the most hated fur bearing animal per pound of body weight) was
surfacing out of the ground where he had just put a Mole, Vole and Gopher
Repellent we had sold him at Possum’s. Moles just had their babies in April and
are very active. Moles are another pest that requires persistence to manage.

Chinch Bugs are very active. If you have a sunny St.
Augustine lawn, it is time to get some protection out there on your turf.
EcoVia EC is an NOP compliant product. Aloft is a long term control product.
Bug Blaster, Cyonara, Bifen, and Lebanon Sevin will provide short term control.

Speaking of sunny yards, remember to protect yourself from
the sun. Since I hang around mostly people that spend time in the sun, I have
witnessed and heard about many sun related horror stories.

Drain flies are becoming an issue with all the good local
vegetables and fruits being consumed in our kitchens. Using the scum eating
microbes in InVade BioDrain will help eliminate the organic build up in drains
that harbor the drain flies and the citrus oil will help reduce odors as well.
The EcoVia EC will help if they are already getting active.

About Me

Bill Lamson-Scribner can be reached during the week at Possum’s Landscape and Pest Control Supply. Possum’s has three locations 481 Long Point Rd in Mt. Pleasant (971-9601), 3325 Business Circle in North Charleston (760-2600), or 606 Dupont Rd, in Charleston (766-1511). Bring your questions to a Possum’s location, or visit us at http://www.possumsupply.com. You can also call in your questions to
“ The Garden Clinic”, Saturdays from noon to 1:00, on 1250 WTMA (The Big Talker).